Computer scientist calls for better Internet search engine

Mark Quigg, of IBM, shows off some of the capabilities of Watson, the computer that beat two of the top players on Jeopardy earlier this year.

Photograph by: Chris Mikula, Postmedia News
, Postmedia News

Between April and June, Google Inc. earned a profit of $2.51 billion U.S. and saw revenue of more than $9 billion U.S. — up 32 per cent from a year earlier.

Despite this monetary success, at least one technology academic says Google and others continue to offer Internet-search functions that are antiquated and out of touch with today's realities.

An article in this week's edition of the science journal Nature calls for search engines that interact more naturally with humans and provide responses more to the point of what we're asking.

In this piece, University of Washington computer scientist Oren Etzioni notes that the web is increasingly accessed through smartphones, and the process of typing words in a search field, choosing from a list of possibilities and then logging on to any number of websites can be a tedious task from such devices.

In his article, Etzioni talks about how nice it would be if we could simply ask a question and get an answer.

"Moving up the information food chain requires a search engine that can interpret a user's question, extract facts from all the information on the web, and select an appropriate answer," he writes.

Etzioni referred to IBM-made supercomputer Watson dominating the television game show Jeopardy earlier this year as a proof that machines are capable to having answers to an array of questions on demand.

"The multi-billion dollar question that IBM is now investigating is: 'Can Watson be generalized beyond the game of Jeopardy?'" Etzioni writes.

Etzioni elaborated to Postmedia News on the kind of information people should be able to get from a search engine: "What was the score in that sports game yesterday? Who was pitching? When is this happening?

"There's just an enormous amount of questions that we have all the time that (most) search (engines are) just too primitive a tool to deal with, particularly as more and more access to the Internet is through mobile devices."

That's not to say the current model for Internet searching should be completely done away with. Keyword searches, and the various directions they can take a web surfer, will continue to be ideal in certain circumstances, particularly if someone is using a desktop computer, he said.

But he added that "on a mobile device with a tiny screen and an awkward keyboard, you're just not going to want to do that."

He says in his paper that current methods of Internet searching might soon go the way of "bygone technologies" like typewriters.

Toronto-based futurist Richard Worzel said it's "inevitable" that search engines will evolve to take into account the mobility of users and their longing for quick and simple answers.

He agreed that Watson is a good example of the possibilities that exist and what technology companies are striving for.

"(Watson) wasn't created to play Jeopardy," Worzel said. "It was created to do things like search."

Thomas Kunz, a computer engineering professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, said technology companies are trying to develop better search engines, particularly by making computers more capable of understanding context.

"I think the real big bang for the buck is once you figure out what the user wants using context (in conjunction with) mobile devices that can include things like location . . . and organizing the information by reason rather than just text matching."

However, he said a wholesale change in the nature of search engines is unlikely in the near future. He said the most radical changes will initially be domain-specific — for example, tools to search large databases of medical records or legal documents.

"There is development that, if anything, is going to first work in specific domains," he said. "Whether it's going to be free to the masses — not any time soon; that's my prediction."

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.